The tipping of saw blade teeth is well known and various machines have been proposed for the tipping of circular, band, gang and/or the like saws. In addition, various materials have been proposed for use as the tips. Also, various proposals have been made as to the nature and form of the materials from which the tips are produced. For example, it has been proposed to pre-cut or otherwise provide short pieces or elements of the tip forming material, each of sufficient length as to be correspond to a single tip element, and to provide apparatus in which these single tip forming elements are successively fed from a supply, magazine or store thereof to a brazing or welding work station at which the tip forming elements are secured by brazing, welding or the like to the next tooth of a blade whose teeth are required to be tipped.
It is additionally known to provide apparatus which utilizes, rather than single tip length elements as the supply of tip forming material, bars or rods of the material from which a number of tip forming lengths can be successively cut at the time of attaching individual tips to the teeth of a blade that is to be tipped. With such known arrangements one end of the supply bar or rod is presented, in a direction from the side of the blade, to the tooth to be tipped. This end is attached to the tooth to be tipped by, for example, a combination of heat and pressure in which the one end of the bar or rod is effectively so pushed against a tooth, that has been heated sufficiently to melt a portion of the tooth, with sufficient force as to produce a notch in the heated tooth into which is received said bar or rod one end. After allowing the tooth to cool, the tip material material is firmly attached to the tooth by the combined effects of the heat and pressure. After the attachment of bar or rod end, the bar or rod is cut to leave the requisite length (i.e., a tip length) of tip forming material secured to the tooth.
Following this operation blade is indexed in such manner that the next tooth to be tipped is moved to the tipping work station and the portion of the rod or bar that is to provide the next tip length is presented to the tooth next to be tipped. In other words, the tip forming pieces or elements are successively removed as required from an end of the supply rod or bar.
In practice, this sideways feed of the bar or rod end has been found, over many years, to involve inherent shortcomings in relating to economic tipping of the various forms of saw blades.
Furthermore, various materials have been proposed as tip forming materials such as Tungsten carbide and the material known under the trade name Stellite. The present invention, while being particularly concerned with the use of Stellite bars or rods as the tooth tipping material, is not restricted to the use of such materials as other suitable materials could be used so that the concepts of the invention are not specifically restricted to the use of Stellite.
It will be appreciated, from the forgoing, that during the application of the tip forming material to a blade tooth, it is necessary to ensure that the tip forming material is correctly positioned with respect to the tooth to be tipped, and that the tipping material is firmly held in the required setting relative to the tooth to be tipped throughout the tipping processes. It will be further understood that at the end of a tipping operation it is necessary to be able to index a blade being tipped so that the next tooth to be tipped is moved into the tip attachment work station of the apparatus.
In practice, the arrangements provided for feeding the tip forming material to a tip and those required for the actual tip attachment must not impede the indexing of the blade and its firm retention in the indexed position while the tip forming material is being secured to the blade tooth.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for facilitating the tipping of saw blades. In particular, the present invention is concerned with apparatus for the tipping of saw blade teeth which avoids any sideways feed and which still makes use of a rod or bar of the tip forming material from which tip forming lengths are removed as and when a tooth is required to be tipped.